We did a few bus trips round the Yucatan area ,including yet another dip or two into the Cenotes,which are under ground caverns with pools that ,of course, are fountains of youth.We,re looking that young now that we're having to carry ID around.I told you it aint easy doing this stuff.Chichen Itza and all the amazing architectural odditys about it ,sent us all Mayan mad so we bought Mayan calenders and a mask etc and wondered how the Spanish ever managed to rape such an advanced civilization..... Oh yeah.....Guns.
So,we left the delightful dinghy dock at Isla Mujeres and took off in company with Music a 38 ft Hans Christian (hull no. 1) sailed by Steve and Eva heading for Miami.
We lost sight of eachother,of course, by the end of the day,but we had a beautiful sail all the way ,even though we had to tack against the easterly trades all the way up the Florida straights.Nevertheless we did 650 miles in exactly 5 days,to the minute,and dropped the hook at South Beach in beautiful Miami.The AIS images on the chartplotter as we approached Miami looks pretty crowded but it wasn't that bad.We're the little black arrow head and the red ones are all the other boats (with AIS of course)
We did 'stuff' in Miami,like getting our new liferaft fitted and also a new whisker pole that is attached to track on the front of the mast.Necessary because some people tend to throw them overboard if given half a chance!!!
21st May we left Miami and had another perfect sail,4 1/2 days to Beaufort and up the Adams Creek to good ol' Oriental.We've become a bit addicted to this offshore voyaging.Leaving port is a buzz and arriving at a destination is always a thrill,but that bit in between......just Jabiru and us and a whole lot of water and stars and the moon for company at night,well it's just ......kewl...as Bob Bitchin says.
So here we are back in Oriental,been a month now.All the same but some changes.Ray and Briget and Max and Noah have got off the boat and gone north to Ohio,Roy has had a triple by-pass and a whole bunch of things that if you don't know who the haell I'm talking about.....won't mean a thing.Big John (Boone) dropped down for a visit and brought his sewing machine ,so we worked at sails and ,would you believe,re-modelled the salon.I did all the carpentry and was very pleased with the result,but that left all the cushions to be re-shaped and re-upholstered.Had to lock Gail down in the 'sweatshop', otherwise known as the salon ,for a few days and ,well she did a brilliant job.So I sggested she could do it for money and she started throwing things at me and I guess I''l just have to be thankful she saved us a fortune! Check it out.
As a reward for her efforts (I mean it's like I did NUTHIN')we had a week up in the Smoky Mountains.We've been trying to make the trip up there to see our cruising friends Roger and Evans (from way back in the Bahamas)for about 3 years so we finally got up there ,via another delightful stop over at John and Joans place.'course as we arrived Roger decided to have a heart attack so we only saw them for a few minutes as we were leaving.Roger was fine but had to spend a few days in hospital so we house sat for them and looked after their dogs and looked around the mountains.Very beautiful and the dogs were a delight to spend time with.Hope Roger won't go to so much trouble to avoid us next time we get to visit!
Meanwhile,back in Oriental Jabiru is tugging at the docklines to get away.She's had her usual 'makeovers' and fussed overs and now it's time to get back out there and have people calling out "pretty boat" and "great looking boat" and "what is she " and all that.She can't get enough of it.She's so vain.
So we're going north,probably inside to Norfolk and then straight up to Marthas Vineyard and then on to Maine and hopefuly Nova Scotia so we get more time to head south again by winter.Hope I get to do this again before another 2 months passes.
